Wow! Such a good movie.

Please don't spend money on this.

Must See Movie...

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

There are few pieces of media that have had the seismic effect that Akira had on it's 1988 release. Based on the manga of the same name and directed by the same author, the science fiction film changed the face of Japanese cinema and, indeed, the face of Japanese fiction in general.It's not hard to see why. Katsuhiro's world is dense and alive in such a captivating way; beyond the biker gangs of our main characters Tetsuo and Kaneda we have doomsday cults, government conspiracies, insurgent terrorists, mysterious physic powers... Audiences back then and even now are pulled into the world, invited to explore every nook and cranny, making it instantly watchable and perfect for repeat viewings.Such a shame then, that this is exactly what drags the movie down, particularly in the second act. Cramming the plot full of so many subplots gives rise to many false climaxes and resolutions, leaving the pacing choppy at best. Particularly evident is the resolution of the titular Akira plotline, which seems like it should be the resolution of the movie, but upon looking at the remaining time, you'll be shocked to discover that almost half an hour still remains. Cutting a lot of these superfluous subplots would help the pacing greatly, but then again that's exactly what made the film so engaging in the first place, providing a serious conundrum.Even more confusing is that, because of the inclusion of so many subplots, it seems that the characterisation and character development of our main characters - Tetsuo and Kaneda - suffers as a result. Tetsuo turns too quickly from disgruntled childhood friend to telekinesis-wielding antagonist, but at least this isn't as bad as Kaneda's treatment, who remains the same one-note, shouty delinquent virtually the entire way through the film. Why the filmmakers chose to focus on these smaller threads instead of the main thread of the movie escapes me, but at least another key area of focus for the film - production - paid off in spades.The bubble economy of the 1980s made Japan a lot of money, and it's no surprise that a lot of this money was channeled into entertainment - namely, the burgeoning anime industry. With a budget of around $10 million, this is still the most expensive anime film of all time, and it shows. Everything on screen is animated, even the backgrounds in panning shots, making for one of the best looking pieces of animated film out there. Just watching the film for this level of quality rarely seen in anime films anymore is worth it, and there's no way you'll pick up on every detail with just one watch. So perhaps this is why, despite choppy writing, the film still stands the test of time today, and can still be enjoyed with our modern eyes. Akira still remains one of my favourite films of all time - perhaps because of the impression it left on me at a young age - even though it can't exactly be called the 'best.'

"Akira" made IMDb's Top 250 list way back in 1998 and hasn't been back since, although I see it now popping in and out of the rankings for the current year (2018). I'm not an anime fan, or even a fan of animated movies in general, though there are a handful that I've liked well enough. With this film, I'm left entirely in limbo. When something like this occurs, I'll check out the FAQ page for the movie here on IMDb and try to gain some understanding, along with a handful of the more accomplished reviews for the picture. It didn't surprise me that to get a better grip on the story, one would be well advised to read the two thousand plus manga treatment of Akira by the writer, and this film's director, Katsuhiro Ôtomo. I can guarantee that's not going to happen, so what I'm left with as regards the film is a lukewarm acceptance that it's been a very influential work in the genre, while leaving me entirely unimpressed. All I got out of it was an endless series of violence, destruction, explosions and fighting, and though I followed the characters of Kaneda and Tetsuo well enough, there wasn't the least bit of story line that had an appeal for this viewer. Nor were the characters even likeable to any degree, so that was another check in the minus column. So rather than bashing the film, I'll just consider my viewing another in a long list of movies I've watched to get a broader perspective of what's out there and know that I'm not missing anything. All films can't appeal to everyone.

A must watch for anyone into or getting into anime. Viewer discretion advised. Rated R or TV-MA. Excellent sound track.Violent & bloody at times.

It is impossible not to notice right away how "Akira" influenced and used influences, it is impossible to say if the manga inspired the art direction of the first "Blade Runner" or if "Blade Runner" inspired the art direction of "Akira" , but it is livable that a baby from the source of the other, this is just an example, since innumerable other animes and films bring elements of "akira" such as "Elfen Lied" or so many others, "Akira" is politics, violence, vulgarity, music, action, photography, "Akira" is synonymous with the word POP, and one of the framers of Cyber ​​Punk culture in the East and West. "Akira" in two hours has a very unpleasant mission, he has to build a whole universe and still tell a story full of symbolism and subjectivity without letting the viewer get distracted, obviously he uses a lot of graphics to accomplish this task. but first of all, the basis of everything, is the script, that script is the only thing in the movie that is not perfect, she got confused, hangs, gives back, abuses ex-machine, but even so, he is extremely daring, innovative, philosophical and grandiose, perhaps even too much, contemplate the histories of Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) and Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki), two friends who are forced to face each other after being brought in by metahuman power, intrigues, youth, war and society are treated in the length of Katsuhiro Otomo, from this degeneration of youth, in the best style "Mechanical Orange" to the end of the world. is really a screenplay that covers a lot, although you get lost a little on this long road, he knows how to develop the characters partially, incredible as it may seem, is missing some flash backs, and you have problems defining a protagonist, or even even the real function of some character, as this is not told to the viewer, just shown, it is up to whoever is watching connect the dots, and please né, the screenplay of "Akira" is not a head bug, the luggage that we have today, many things are easy to interpret even if the story in some points leave many ends tips open, and the end, leave the viewer completely confused, of course, unless you have read the manga, there will be a wonderful experience, but we have to give a discount, it is difficult to adapt more than 2000 thousand pages of manga in two hours of film, several characters are left out or are poorly exploited. The first thing that jumps in the eye in "Akira" is the beauty of the animation that is something completely timeless, recorded at I20 frames per second, something extremely advanced for the 80's, and all handmade, details, windows, shadows, the beauty of this animation is something vicarious and addictive, it is impossible not to be in love with the movements, colors, angles, details, graphics, it is really a perfect animation, that even after more than 25 years stays above the level, conquering generations, just like her soundtrack, full of voices and synthesizers she is tribal, mechanical, scary and house completely with the film always leaving the viewer glazed on the scene and sharing the emotions shown on screen. Finally, "Akira" is a symbol of a movement, it may seem that many things are missing in its entanglement- At least in anime- it compensates with a timeless look and is a spectacular and unique film.